Michigan

Fowlerville's Demolition Derby always a hit with fans, drivers

Jim Jagdfeld, Special to The NewsAbove right, driver Nick Holdenberg of Fowlerville confers with derby official Branden Esch at the conclusion of a heat in Tuesday night's demolition derby. Holdenberg had to watch much of his heat with his car perched on the safety wall. Above, officials confer between events.

Brian Brown's mangled No. 393 Ford sat in the staging area after Tuesday night's USA Demolition Derby at the Fowlerville Family Fair.

The front end had buckled up with a wobbly front left wheel. The back end was a twisted mess of metal. It had plenty of gas, but it just wouldn't start.

Miraculously, a photo of Janelle Neering was still intact on the passenger side, hanging on despite all the hits Brown took in finishing third in the feature event.

Brown painted the car black with pink lettering, to honor his niece, who loved the color pink. Neering, a 16-year-old Swartz Creek High student, died in an auto crash March 28, 2007.

"She used to help me with the car in the barn," said Brown, 38, a Fowlerville resident who drives a gravel hauler for Sierra Trucking Inc. in Brighton. "She was a real sweet girl. She didn't deserve to go. She was our angel."

Brown formed a loose-knit team, Damaged Inc., this year with friends Vincent Robertson of Whitmore Lake and Jason Biery of Howell. The three men were part of a field of 14 cars and six trucks that wowed a packed grandstands during the competition.

Some of the drivers planned to be back for the USA Figure Eight Derby, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday nights, and the Auto Enduro Derby, set for 8 p.m. Friday.

Biery and Robertson banged into one another during one heat Tuesday, but held off when a third challenger was counted out, saving their cars for the next round.

"It's fun beating on each other, but we treat each other fair," said Robertson, 39, a truck driver for Aco Hardware in Farmington Hills.

Most other drivers treated each other like punching bags.

Brighton's Michael Radloff, 22, a mechanic at Brighton Ford-Mercury, said his blue No. 66 Ford truck got hit so hard, he was knocked out for a moment.

It was a rude introduction to his first demolition derby. By the end of his heat, won by Tom Goetz Jr. of Stockbridge, his truck had buckled in half.

Radloff's father, Chris, who competed in demolition derbies for 17 years before retiring a decade ago, was proud of his son's first attempt. Radloff vowed to be back.

"A little extra padding, some Tylenol and I'll go again," he said. "Maybe next time in a car, not a truck."

The feature final gave fans plenty of reasons to cheer. At one point, a crash flipped one car up on its side. Brown's and Robertson's cars shot bursts of fire from their engines before quitting on the mud-filled field. Chelsea's Jason Fletcher won the feature.

Members of Damaged Inc. indicated they hoped to run several more derbies by summer's end. "It's addicting," Robertson said. "About spring (time), you need a loud noise and to hit something."